Category: Sauce

Eat this on everything. Tastes great on salmon, steak, and noodles of just about every kind.

Finely slice 2 large bunches of green onions (white and green parts). Mince approximately 1/4 cup ginger. I’m going to level with you, I hate mincing things and use the food processor to chop all that ginger. It helps to use a spoon to scrape the skin off of the ginger instead of using a veggie peeler.

In a bowl, stir together the green onion slices and minced ginger. Add 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon neutral oil (I use sunflower oil and grapeseed oil is a good option as well), 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Keeps well in the fridge if you don’t use it all at first!

I post this with the full knowledge that half of my family categorically avoids spicy foods. These mellow pretty well because of the sugar, though.

Slice about 20 jalapenos or other red peppers into 1/4″ – 1/2″ disks.

In a saucepan, bring 3 cups water, 3 cups distilled white vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, and 2 cloves minced garlic to a boil. Add the jalapenos or other red peppers into the mixture and boil for about 7 minutes. Transfer to sterile jars and either heat seal them or store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. I like to heat seal them so I can share with friends and family.

“Fire” is a bit dramatic. There’s some heat in this chili jam, but it’s nothing wild. Once upon a time, Trader Joe’s had a Hot and Sweet Chili Jam. It was delicious. I purchased it in triplicate when I ran out.

And then.

Trader Joe’s stopped making it.

At first, I was in denial. Perhaps they hadn’t restocked at my store in a while. Then, I thought they’d start making it again if enough people asked about it.

They did not. I waited two years. Then I found the ingredient list on a photo on Amazon for the discontinued jam. Though I had never made jam, I experimented with the ingredients to get something passably close to the original.

Bring 2 cups of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup crushed red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup dried minced garlic to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often. To this mixture, add 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons pectin, and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. When the mixture coats the back of the spoon, remove from heat. Ladle into jars. Heat seal if you’re kooky like that, otherwise store in the fridge for up to a month.

Eat with every cheese plate you ever make, with bagels, straight out of the jar, on ice cream. Bring it to all the picnics and game nights.

I’d been toying with the idea of pho and empanadas for a while before finally getting around to finding the star anise and testing them out. I’d predicted correctly that they’d be delicious!

For the dough:

Mix together 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into cubes, 1 egg, 1/3 cup ice water and 1 tablespoon white vinegar. It should form a shaggy dough. Knead a couple of times with your hands, then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

When everything is thoroughly chilled and cooled, break off 1/4 cup sized pieces of dough, shape into a ball, and roll out into a flat circle. Fill with a couple tablespoons of filling. Roll over the edges and crimp using a fork or your fingers. You can get pretty fancy with how you secure your empanada edges. I have not gotten that fancy. Brush with egg wash (1 egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon of water) and cook at 400 degrees until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. You can use an air fryer at this step if you have one. Serve hot with generous helpings of the dipping sauce.

In a food processor, crush 1/4 cup raw almonds until finely ground. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup packed basil (if you use purple, it gets to be crushed almond purple sauce), the zest of one lemon, the juice of one lemon, three seeded and de-stemmed red jalapenos, and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. Process until smooth. You may need to add additional olive oil to get a consistency you like.